Frenetic in Forks
by Eilonwyn
Summary: Doctor Who/Twilight, but you don't need to know about Twilight to read it. The Doctor and Rose are annoyed to find that they've landed in an alternate universe, again...and the Doctor finds that not all vampires are created equal. COMPLETE.
1. Unexpected Landing

Chapter One

The Doctor dashed frenetically around the TARDIS' console, pressing buttons and flicking levers almost faster than the eye could follow. Rose leaned on the TARDIS railing near his seat, watching excitedly. It wasn't that she'd already seen this a hundred times, it was that every time it took them somewhere different, a new adventure.

"Where're we going this time, Doctor?" she called over the din.

"Barcelona!" he called to her over his shoulder. She laughed. "What? Beautiful place, Barcelona, and I haven't gotten to show you yet. Something always gets in the way, right at the last second. Like they've put redirectional shields up to keep me out or something," he muttered to himself. "Could they do that? No, it's only a level seven, isn't it? Or is it nine?" He pulled the TARDIS screen in front of them. "What time period am I in, anyway?"

"Keeping us out then?" Rose laughed. "Fair reason to, I suppose."

"Nah, it's probably just the TARDIS at work," said the Doctor, running a hand through his unruly hair distractedly and making it stand on end before turning back to the console. "Chaos theory and all that. Anyway, they're not keeping us out this time! I just throw this lever, and_--"_

The TARDIS shook, then jolted sideways. Rose hung onto the railing for dear life, and the Doctor, as usual, managed to somehow cling to the console. There was a bang, and suddenly the TARDIS was still. Even the buzzing noise seemed muted.

"...wham," the Doctor finished lamely. "Well, it was worth a shot. Let's see where we are, shall we?" He pulled the screen towards him and stared at it for a few moments. His eyebrows shot upward in incredulity. "What? What? What?!? Oh, come on!" He whacked the TARDIS console, exasperated.

"What is it, Doctor?" asked Rose amusedly.

He sighed. "I wanted _Barcelona_, not some city named after kitchen utensils--!"

The TARDIS went dark, and there was nothing but the faintest of buzzing noises somewhere in the background.

For a few minutes, there was dead silence. Rose summoned up her courage and asked, "Doctor, what was that?"

"An alternate universe," said the Doctor resignedly, "apparently. Again. This is becoming a bit of a habit, don't you think?" he said, addressing the console. "Well, at least it'll know what to do this time," he added, turning to Rose. "We just leave it well enough alone for eight hours or so, and we're free to go. Sound good?"

Rose shrugged. "What, no great big crisis this time?"

"Nope. The TARDIS doesn't panic about the same things twice. Come on, let's go see what's out there."

"Well, come on then." Rose bounded towards the door, excitement building in her. The anticipation was the part that she never got tired of. She reached the door, threw it open, and started out the door.

And bounced backwards into the Doctor in the same movement, sending them stumbling over themselves. She hurried off into the depths of the TARDIS, muttering "raincoat" under her breath and looking distinctly grumpy.

"What?" the Doctor asked, looking out the doorway again. Sure enough, outside was rainy and looked as though it was only going to get worse. "Oh well," he muttered. He never saw quite what Rose had against the rain, especially as she was probably used to it.

He stared pensively at the rain for a few moments as Rose came up behind him, squeaking slightly in a rainjacket. "Of course it would be raining," she said as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into the wet, then was distracted by the scenery around her. "Pine trees. Big pine trees. And lots of mountains. Where are we?"

"As far as I could tell from the TARDIS computer before it gave out, we're on some sort of Earth. Northwestern United States, as a matter of fact. Something about the rainiest place in the whole country, according to the databanks. Which might be faulty, as it wasn't made for this universe. Ssh," he said, as Rose opened her mouth to ask a question. He backed them against the wall and stared out at the undergrowth. Rose strained her ears and thought she could hear whispers.

The doctor pointed tentatively. "There--no, there..." He moved a few steps out from the TARDIS. "Come on out," he called. "We won't hurt you."

Suddenly, a young man emerged from the trees and stepped tentatively towards the Doctor. "Wow...definitely not Earth," Rose whispered to herself. The boy was gorgeous, and he appeared to be only a few years younger than she was.

The Doctor threw her a disapproving look, then looked more closely at the youth. His eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"What?" the boy echoed immediately afterwards, coming closer to the Doctor with an expression of confusion and fierce curiosity on his face.

A few feet apart, they met face to face, and spoke at the same time. "_What?_"


	2. Who Are You?

**Timeline Note: For Rose and the Doctor, it doesn't really matter where they are in their timeline. But it's after "The Age of Steel" and before "Rise of the Cybermen." Twilight fans, however, should probably note that in Edward's and Bella's timeline, this is at the very end of Eclipse but before the Epilogue. Which means Bella's engaged, but Jacob's still in town. **

The Doctor stepped away from the boy in surprise. "Who are you?" he asked. But before he could answer, a pale face popped out from behind a branch.

"Edward?" came a girl's voice. "What are you doing?"

He sighed and turned around. "I told you to stay put, Bella."

"Like that's happening," she said, rolling her eyes. She emerged from the underbrush and promptly tripped over a root, righting herself before she could fall completely. "Dang it," she muttered, blushing, as she hurried over to stand behind Edward. He took her hand protectively. _She looks human,_ Rose thought, surprised. _OK, wait, this doesn't make any sense. _

"Right. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose," said the Doctor, watching Edward carefully. "And she's Bella and you're...Edward, yes?"

He nodded. "What exactly are you doing here, and why is there a telephone box behind you?"

_He knows what a telephone box is,_ the Doctor thought, surprised. "I think the better question is, what on Earth are you? Especially on Earth," the Doctor muttered. "An alternate universe where they have humans fraternizing with aliens? Well, that's hardly likely."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Aliens?"

Bella laughed. "That's a new one."

"It's also quite a thought," Edward muttered. "But--what?" He stopped with his head cocked to one side. "I could ask you the same question, Doctor."

"You're clever," the Doctor noted. "Hang on..." He started pacing around Edward in a circle, while Edward watched suspiciously and moved to keep Bella behind him. When they had moved around in a full semicircle, Rose found herself face to face with Bella.

"Hello," she said with a grin.

"Hi." Seeming to make a decision, Bella moved away from Edward and moved to stand beside Rose instead.

"Telepathic energies?" the Doctor exclaimed, stopping in front of Edward. He reached out and whacked his shoulder lightly with one hand. "Transitized lithocellular makeup?" Edward frowned. "Funny eyes...and...wait a minute... No. No way."

He moved back around Edward and back to Rose instead, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her farther away. "Doctor!" she protested loudly.

"Ssh, it's just a precaution. Just to be safe," he said promised absently, not taking his eyes off Edward. "But why..."

"Edward?" asked Bella, looking between him and the Doctor. She stepped between him and the two strangers, the movement seeming almost automatic in nature. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," said Edward carefully. "He's just quick on the uptake, that's all."

Rose was quickly beginning to feel left out of the picture. "All right, what did I miss?" she asked the Doctor nervously.

"I met his kind before," the Doctor said, staring at Edward. "But not quite. You're not quite the same. And that's the only reason I'm not hunting up a long metal pointed object right now."

Edward grinned. "Stakes don't work on us, Doctor. Nice try, though."

"He figured it out?" Bella gasped. "But...but--"

"Like I said, he's very quick on the uptake." Edward turned to the Doctor. "Would you like to speak to the leader of our family? I'm sure he'll be able to answer your questions more satisfactorily than I could. As you're stuck here for eight hours anyway."

Bella brightened up. "Really? That'd be great! Esme loves guests!"

The Doctor raised and eyebrow at that, and Edward chuckled. "Come on, then. Or didn't you lock the TARDIS door?"

"Wait, what?" said Rose and Bella at the same moment.

"Those two'll get along well," the Doctor commented. "Well, then, I suppose we've got nothing better to do." He fell into step beside Edward and the four of them left the phone box standing lonely in the middle of the forest.


	3. Conversations

**A/N: Yes, I know the updates are going really quick right now, but at the moment I actually have free time. Thanx so much to everyone for reading this! I didn't expect to get noticed! :D Hope you keep liking it!**

"So..." Rose said to Bella as they walked behind Edward and the Doctor.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" she asked. "As I suspect the Doctor isn't about to tell me."

"Like I know," she said, laughing. "Me and Edward were heading home before the rain got too heavy, and all of a sudden their was this strange groaning, wheezing noise. Edward told me to stay where I was while he went to take a look." She rolled her eyes. "He's very cautious."

"No kidding. I wish mine were a bit more like that sometimes." Rose looked down at the forest floor to make sure she was keeping her footing--there were treacherous roots everywhere--and caught a glimpse of something glinting on Bella's finger. She grabbed her hand and stared at the intricate wedding ring. "Are you engaged to him?" she asked in an awed whisper.

Bella flushed scarlet. "I just accepted this morning," she whispered back.

"Congratulations!" said Rose. "Lucky you, too. He seems wonderful. But..."

"But what?" asked Bella, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well..." said Rose, "I hate to point this out, but he's not exactly your species. I know I'm one to talk," she added hurriedly, "but then, it's not like the Doctor and me are engaged, are we?"

Bella was silent for a moment, biting her lip. "Does it count as a different species," she asked slowly, "if I can become like him?"

"What?" Rose whispered, shocked. In front of her, she heard Edward sigh loudly.

Bella was looking at Edward's back, a guilty expression on her face. "Nothing," she answered softly. "Not the point at the moment." She turned to look at Rose again. "The question should be, who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"It wasn't exactly on purpose," Rose replied. "But then, it never really is with us. We were trying to get to Barcelona, and--"

"Isn't that in Spain or something?" Bella interrupted, confused.

Rose realized she'd said too much. "Something like that," she muttered. "Anyway, we...uh...got a little off track, and here we are." She grinned. "Same old story."

Edward glanced back at them for a second, then turned his gaze on the Doctor. "About that, Doctor," he said. "There's several things you haven't explained to me."

"Maybe because it's none of your business," the Doctor answered sharply.

"I'm not as hostile as you seem to think, Doctor," said Edward softly. "Our family--we're vegetarian. We only eat animals."

This confused Rose. "What--?"

The Doctor cut in over her. "Not supposed to be dangerous, then, is that it?" he asked sarcastically. "You know what I can and can't see. You can see through my eyes if you want to. You know what I think of you."

They'd all stopped on the track they were following, the Doctor facing Edward and Rose and Bella looking anxiously on.

There was silence for a few moments before Edward answered. Even knowing the Doctor, Rose thought his eyes looked strangely old. "Yes, Doctor. I know what you think of me. But I don't know who or what you are. I want to know that. And I want to try to change your view of us."

They stood staring at each other for a few more minutes before the Doctor turned and moved on, and Edward paced him.

"He's remarkably biased for just having met Edward," Bella whispered, looking angry.

Rose sighed. "He's like that sometimes. But he usually has a good reason for it." She looked at Bella straight on. "What am I missing? There's something you two know and the Doctor's figured out, but I don't know it yet. What is it?"

"You should tell her," the Doctor called over his shoulder. "I'm only going to tell her later, if you don't." His eyes were kind as he looked in Bella's direction, and Rose could tell that whatever his problem was with Edward, he didn't have anything against Bella.

Bella looked at Rose and bit her lip. "It's...complicated. And you might not believe me."

Rose laughed. "Trust me, I believe you. You get used to believing things when you're with the Doctor."

"Is he really called the Doctor?" asked Bella, distracted. "Is that his name, or something?"

"Not exactly. No one knows his name. Well, I mean, I guess he does, but other than that...anyway," said Rose, "you're avoiding my question."

Bella made a face. "You get good at that after being with Edward long enough. Don't freak out or anything, okay?" She looked at Rose with pleading eyes.

"Okay," Rose said uncertainly.

"Well...he's sort of a vampire."

Rose froze for a second before forcing herself to keep walking. "No way."

"Way." Bella was biting her lips to keep from smiling.

"A vampire?" Rose laughed. "Now, werewolves, that's something else. I've met a werewolf, it wasn't so bad."

"A werewolf?" Bella cut in. There was a strange expression on her face.

"Yes, with Queen Victoria. But a vampire!" She laughed. "That one's new...to me, anyway."

"No, but we have werewolves," Bella blurted. "No Queen Victoria--I bet she wasn't amused..."

Rose laughed. "She wasn't! I got her to say that!" Then the rest of what Bella had said sank in. "Wait...you have werewolves, too? Really?"

She smiled. "A couple miles out of Forks, up on the reservation."

"But that's not safe," Rose said, worried. "Shouldn't you be trying to drive them off or something? I mean, the werewolf we met was trying to take over the world!"

"I don't think it's the same," Bella answered. "Werewolves are the good guys here...more or less. Depends who you're with and which side you're on," she added to herself, frowning. "But their job's to protect people, anyway. Or they think it is."

Rose grinned. "All right then. So...vampires, werewolves...anything else? Any witches?"

Bella shook her head, smiling. "No, not yet. Though I've wondered. So yes, vampires and werewolves are all I know about. But now...are there aliens here, too?"

"Well, sort of, yeah."

"Wow."

"I know. Welcome to my universe."

The Doctor grinned. "Not quite our universe."

"All right. Welcome to our univer_ses_."

Bella laughed. "That works."


	4. Meeting the Family

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, been crazy busy the last few days. Warning: moving into the bigger Classic Who references at this point. Taken from the **_**Doctor Who and the State of Decay**_** novelization (second part of the E-Space Trilogy, which, by the way, apparently doesn't come out on DVD here in the U.S. until May, dang it). **

Rose, the Doctor, Bella, and Edward suddenly emerged from the trees and into a clear space, with pillar-like trees leading up to a large, rectangular white house. A river murmured in the distance.

Bella looked at Edward nervously. "How do we do this?" she asked. "I mean, if it was awkward when you introduced _me_ to the family..."

Edward half-smiled. "They'll certainly be interested to see what I brought into the house this time. Rose especially. Ros-alie," he corrected quickly, looking at Rose over his shoulder.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "All right then."

"That could be a problem," murmured Bella.

Edward held a finger to his lips. "Anyway." They followed him up the stairs to the house, where he silently opened the door and they stepped inside.

The inside of the house was bright and open, with greenery showing through the window and a piano to one side. A group of people were standing perfectly still by a large staircase, watching them carefully.

The Doctor, however, was perfectly used to awkward greetings. "Hello! I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

Dead silence. The vampires across from them all stood perfectly still. Then one of them grinned.

"Oh wow!" she said, in a high, trilling soprano voice. "Seriously? Cool!" She danced over closer in front of the Doctor and stuck out her hand. "Hi. I'm Alice."

The Doctor shook her hand, looking somewhat surprised. "That is so weird!" Alice enthused, letting go of his hand. "Your skin's almost as cold as ours."

Without waiting for his response, she moved on to Rose. She started as Alice touched her hand. It was colder than she had expected, even colder than the Doctor's. His skin temperature had never startled her, but that was probably because she was used to him being bizarre.

"Hi," said the girl again. Rose grinned. Alice had a mischievous gleam in her eye that she could appreciate.

A huge vampire with muscles chuckled. "Come on, Alice. I know you're waiting for me to ask. What's so awesome?"

"He's an alien!!!" Alice trilled, skipping back to the rest of the group and taking another lean, wiry vampire's hand, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Rose's eye was drawn for a moment to a beautiful blond girl whose eyebrows rose incredulously, but it was an older blonde vampire who spoke. Rose guessed he was easily less than ten years older than she was. "Alien, Alice?" he asked mildly, looking surprised.

"Alien!" she answered with a grin.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Really. You're one to talk."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the beautiful blond vampire girl sharply.

"You have to admit you're not quite _normal_, Rose," said the buff vampire with a grin, putting an arm around her shoulders. Rose looked over the beautiful vampire speculatively as she sulked, leaning against the buff vampire's arm. She could see what Bella meant by _a problem_.

A sweet-looking vampire next to the oldest blonde one spoke up. "Yes, but what does that entail?" she asked, looking at the Doctor and Rose curiously. "Where do they come from?"

Edward threw a wry look at the pair of them, who had looked down and began shuffling their feet.

"All over the place," said Rose quickly. "We're sort of travelers. And technically, I'm human. He's the odd one."

"You're not the sort to say much about yourselves, are you?" Edward murmured after another awkward moment of quiet.

"Of course not," said the Doctor with a sudden grin. "You're all so much more interesting than us! For example, where did _you_ come from?"

"What do you mean?" asked the eldest, but Edward answered for them. "In the way you mean...we don't know."

"There you are. See? Told you you were more interesting." The Doctor looked over the vampires speculatively. "Anyway, who are all of you? I don't think I caught all your names."

"Of course. Alice and Rosalie you already know. I am Carlisle, and this is my wife Esme." The sweet-looking woman standing beside Carlisle smiled at them. "Rosalie and Emmett are over there--" the burly vampire winked, while the beautiful one just stood looking sulky-- "And Alice is with Jasper."

"And some of you exhibit supernatural mental abilities, am I right? Edward here's telepathic..."

"Alice can see the future and Jasper can manipulate emotions," Bella rattled off glibly. When Rosalie turned to glare at her, she flinched and said to the world at large, "If he were dangerous, you'd have attacked him already, right?"

Rose laughed. "You're good with this, then," she said, partly trying to relieve the tension. "Being the only human in the room, I mean."

"I guess so." Bella laughed. "You just sort of get used to it."

"Yeah, I know. Sometimes I think I'm the only one. Oh, well," she joked, "somebody's got to keep them sane, right?"

Bella smiled. "Yeah."

"Never mind that," the Doctor interrupted suddenly, "I don't know about any of this. None of it makes any sense! Where did you come from?"

"Is it possible we just evolved, Doctor?" Edward asked.

"No, that's not right," he said, frustrated. "You can't have. There simply isn't the right sort of genetic material on Earth. Or the right conditions. Not even on this version of Earth. No, it's something else." He lapsed into silence, staring off into the middle distance.

Edward's face assumed a similar expression. After a few seconds, he frowned. "You're losing me, Doctor."

Emmett laughed. "There's something I never thought I'd hear him say! Finally met your match, huh, Edward?"

"Another universe?" asked Edward, not paying attention. "Us, too?"

"What do you mean, us, too?" asked Rosalie, peeved. "Like we're from another universe! What does that _mean_?"

"Not just one universe," said the Doctor. "A couple of universes over. Well, from our point of view, anyway." He shrugged. "I suppose it's pretty statistically likely. Place like E-Space is tiny, the odds of ending up there are ridiculously small. But nice, big parallel universe right here on the other side of ours, that makes more sense. We can't have done a good enough job looking." He frowned. "More of you must have escaped than we originally thought. And that's odd, because Time Lords didn't often use to be wrong."

"But it's more than that, Doctor," said Edward worriedly. "You said that we're no more than...limbs off the main branch. Where's the Great One? If we really are somehow from the same race, then what happened to it?"

"Great One?" asked Carlisle, puzzled. "Great what?"

"All vampires--in the Doctor's universe, anyway--are the creations, or the creations of the creations or so on, of a giant vampire. That race could devour whole planets--they were huge."

"That's odd," said Alice thoughtfully, "as the only powerful vampires we know are the Volturi."

"They're a sort of ruling class over our race," Edward explained hurriedly to the Doctor and Rose. "They make sure we aren't discovered by humans, which at this point would not be a good thing."

"Oh, I don't know," said the Doctor absently. "Might do them some good. And I suspect UNIT would be surprised. If they don't know about it already. If they _have _a UNIT here, for that matter. That's the trouble with parallel worlds," he muttered, "all this confusion.

"But the point is," he continued, "That that thing's got to exist..." His face darkened, as though he had just realized something. "And wherever it is, I have to find it," he added decisively.

"_We_ have to find it," Rose added in quickly, before the Doctor could contradict her.

Edward frowned. "Doctor..."

"I don't understand," said Carlisle uncertainly. "Why do you need to find this Great One?"

"Because people are dying," said the Doctor angrily. "Every single day, because of...well, not because of you, but because of hundreds or thousands of other heartless killers out there who are murdering innocent people every single day, and I have to stop it."

"This isn't even your universe, Doctor," said Edward suddenly. "You don't have to do anything. You can just wait for the next six hours and fifty-four minutes and then go back to your home universe, if you want to."

"No," said the Doctor grimly, "because the Time Lords used to look after all the universes, and Vampires were our mortal enemies. I'm the last, there's no one else left to fight against them. So it's my duty to find the Great Vampire and destroy it if I can."


	5. Info and Plans

Rose looked around. Edward's face was like a mask, Alice looked unhappy, and Jasper looked uncomfortable. Other than that, everyone else in the room looked just as confused and worried as she was.

"But," said the Doctor, "I have to find it first, and find out what's changed your kind so dramatically. It almost looks like...no..." he trailed off, then picked up again at his usual breakneck pace. "Well, maybe, but first we've got to find out what's going on. Now, let's think...to have any sort of control whatsoever over the Great One...another Great One than the one I saw last time...these Volturi would need at least one supercomputer..."

He looked speculatively at the group of vampires. "Do any of you know how to hack into computer systems, by any chance?"

"I should be able to," said Esme after a pause.

Bella's eyebrows raised in disbelief as she looked at the pretty, young, maternal vampire, and the Doctor seemed to echo her sentiment. "Really?"

"I work on architecture for a hobby, Doctor," said Esme, smiling, "and I've taken lots of courses. I know plenty about the way computers work. You'd be surprised about the abilities I and my family have."

"Rosalie fixes cars," Bella muttered to Rose, who grinned.

A few minutes later, they were up in Esme's room, watching her fingers blur across the keyboard. Even the Doctor looked impressed by the variety and quality equipment available in the Cullen household. He and Edward discussed version numbers and operating systems in an undertone as Esme typed. Apparently, thought Rose, computers hadn't changed much between that universe and this, though the trademark fruit on Esme's computer seemed to be flipped. Was she remembering it right?

"Hang on...here's something...I'm in. Wait...yes. Have a look at that, Doctor." Esme sat back in her chair, looking pleased.

The Doctor moved in front of the screen, scrolling and clicking slightly faster than Rose's eye could follow. "What are these?" he murmured to himself. "More like text screens than anything else, seems like. Wait, no, they're directions. Directions for operating...No. Oh, no way." He looked at the rest of them, looking surprised. "They've got it on some sort of life-support system."

"What?" said Edward rhetorically, looking at the screen. His eyes darted across the window. "Oh."

"Life support?" asked Rose. "What, like an IV or something?" Bella made a face behind her.

"Close. Actually, that would make considerably more sense. No, but it's more complex than that. It's some sort of genetics life support--way more advanced than humankind should be able to create. Even in this universe."

Edward rubbed his forehead in frustration. "You're giving me a headache, Doctor, slow down."

"Try keeping up with him when you _can't_ see inside his head," Rose quipped, grinning.

"That would almost be as chaotic as this," Edward muttered. "I don't see how you manage to think in circles and spirals, it's bizarre."

"My original language is in circles," the Doctor pointed out. "You're just lucky the TARDIS is translating."

Edward raised an eyebrow as though he were about to ask if the Doctor were serious, but he ignored it and turned back to the screen.

"Anyway, this seems to be saying that the system is in place to give the vampire the bare minimum of the blood it needs to remain alive--" Rose made a face-- "while simultaneously attempting to keep its genetic code locked into its present state. But why--" the Doctor clicked a link and scanned another page. "Oh, yes, of course."

"What?" asked Esme curiously.

"Its genetic structure is starting to calcify," said the Doctor. "Something happened to it--travel between the universes, maybe, or malnutrition, or maybe we aren't the first ones to try to destroy it--but anyway, something happened that's causing it to die."

"How does a vampire die?" Rose asked.

The Doctor looked at her sharply for a moment--almost as though she had reminded him of something?--before answering. "In this case, it calcifies, apparently. It makes sense. The last vampires I saw, when the Great One was destroyed, crumbled into dust."

"Here, the only way's burning," Edward said quietly.

"That makes sense, too, I suppose," said the Doctor rubbing his chin. "Oxidation is almost the same thing, in this case. It could act as a catalyst--"

"Wait a second," said Rosalie suddenly from the back of the group. The Doctor turned to glance at her, looking slightly apprehensive. "If we kill this Great Vampire or whatever it is, doesn't that mean we die, too? That we crumble into dust or something?"

"What?" growled Emmett, putting a protective hand on Rosalie's shoulder.

"Now, now, just wait a minute," said the Doctor hurriedly.

"Not necessarily," said Edward, interrupting him. The Doctor rolled his eyes and let him continue. "If we can somehow hack into the genetic code and change it, we could remove the undesirable traits--such as bloodlust, for example. I think that would fulfill your obligation, Doctor."

"If you're reading my mind like I know you are, you would know that I hadn't thought that one all the way through," the Doctor sighed. "Yes, it could be possible. But not from here."

"What?" asked Jasper, suspicious.

"This...this remote control station thing won't be enough," the Doctor explained. "It's meant to support the current system, not restructure it. We'll have to go to the main control center if we want to really do anything." He turned to Carlisle. "Where is the Volturi headquarters?"

"In Italy."

"Then we'll have to go to Italy. Italy in an alternate universe--should be fun!" A strange shiver passed over Alice's face as the Doctor added, "Molto bene!"


	6. To Italy!

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long. This chapter may seem a little dull, but it's really going somewhere, I promise! **

"Italy?" said Rose, laughing.

The Doctor looked at her blankly. "Sure. Why not?"

"All right. How are we going to get there?" she demanded.

"Oh..." the Doctor considered this for a moment. "The TARDIS'll have enough steam to get us through a little hop like that by this point. Mind you, we'll have to recharge it a bit more after that, wait a bit longer, but I don't think that'll be a problem. In the meantime, though..." He eyed the Cullens again. "I could use a little help, if you're willing."

Rosalie scowled. "If you think I'm going anywhere with that creep and his weird warp-engine spaceship or whatever it is he has to get there so fast - "

"Whatever, Rose," said Alice. "He doesn't mean _you_. More specifically, he's going to want me and Edward. And contact with Carlisle and Esme." She cocked her eye at the Doctor. "At least _you_'re smart enough to know you need backup to visit the Volturi...unlike some people," she added, glowering at Edward.

Edward's eyes narrowed slightly, but other than that he refrained from responding to the obvious jibe. "It makes sense for me and Alice to come with you, Doctor."

"Good," said the Doctor, obviously in full-scale planning mode. "So that's the two of you - and Rose, of course - "

Edward and Alice rolled their eyes at the exact same instant when Bella interrupted. "I want to come, too."

"Well..." said the Doctor, deliberating, "sure, why not. You can stay with Rose."

Bella immediately moved across the room and stood right beside Rose, as though she was worried the Doctor might change his mind.

"Doctor..." said Edward, sounding pained.

"If she wants to go, I don't think you're quite going to be able to stop her," said the Doctor.

"I could try," Edward muttered sullenly.

"Don't," Rose advised him flatly.

"Anyway," the Doctor interrupted. "That should be about it. Good team! Unless anyone has anyone else in mind...?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't, Jasper."

"I am _not_ letting you go to Italy on your own," Jasper murmured, stepping forward and grabbing Alice's hand in an iron grip. "Besides, you know you really don't want to go."

Alice pulled away from him. "Oh yes I do, and don't even try that on me. You know I can see it coming. If you're so worried about it, you can come, too. For more backup, if nothing else."

"Good thing the TARDIS doesn't have a seating limit," Rose muttered.

The Doctor looked as though he agreed with her. "All right, anyone else anyone can think of?"

Suddenly, Bella's face acquired a slightly guilty expression. In the same second, Edward made a slight face as Alice groaned. "No, Bella. No, no, no. Don't even think about it. No way."

"I didn't say it was a good idea," Bella muttered sullenly. "I didn't even say anything."

"I don't care. Don't even think it. It's a bad idea."

"But we'll get in trouble if we don't," Bella pointed out.

"They don't have to find out about it. Never mind," said Alice. "Just leave it be. That is just about the first item on the 'things-it's-a-really-_really-_bad-idea-to-do' list. We're not involving the werewolves, and that's final. I can come up with a hundred reasons why not, and then alphabetize them or put them in order of either obviousness or importance or - "

"All right, Alice," Bella interrupted. "I get the point. No werewolves. Okay."

"Maybe not," said Rose, raising her eyebrows.

"Anyway," the Doctor put in, "Communications. We can get all the information we need from the information you have here, but we have to stay in contact - "

"Easy," said Edward. "Give me a second." He disappeared in a blink of an eye and returned less than a second later, handing Rose and the Doctor two shiny, sleek cell phones. "These are two of our spares - no, Rosalie, I didn't give them yours, _before_ you can complain. We keep a couple of extras for emergencies."

Rose flipped it open, staring at the different controls. There was the normal array of buttons and a screen. "All right, then," she said, shoving it into her pocket. The Doctor examined his phone quizzically before doing the same.

"Off to the TARDIS, then?" asked Rose.

"Yup," said the Doctor. "Come on, then." He, Rose, Bella, and Edward were followed at a short distance by Alice and Jasper.

"Good luck," called Esme.

"We'll be waiting for you to contact us," said Carlisle.

Rosalie sulked as Emmett called after them, "Don't let Bella trip over anything important." Bella stumbled slightly over the doorframe as she turned to glare at Emmett, and he laughed at her. Then the six of them were gone.

***

About half an hour later, they stood in front of the TARDIS. The Doctor unlocked the door, and he and Rose dove right in as usual, Rose leaving the door slightly ajar behind her.

Bella stared at Edward in confusion. "How are we all going to fit in there?" Judging from the slightly puzzled look on Jasper's face, he was wondering the same thing.

From inside the TARDIS, Rose laughed. "Come in and see, then."

"Okay," said Bella cautiously. She pushed the door open with its characteristic creaking sound, and stepped in. Then she froze, staring at the TARDIS interior. "No way. That is physically impossible." She stepped back out of the TARDIS and circled it twice, rapping on the sides experimentally. Jasper peered in, too, looking incredulous, then stepped in. Bella reentered behind him.

The Doctor shrugged. "Not impossible. Just...a little unlikely."

Rose grinned. "It's bigger on the inside, that's all."

"I noticed," said Bella absently, staring around in awe.

Alice and Edward followed Bella and Jasper through the doors, Alice running around the TARDIS and touching everything she could reach in fascination, Edward staring around him but standing protectively close to Bella as always.

The Doctor moved to his traditional place at the console, pulling the TARDIS' screen in front of him and rapidly manipulating the controls in front of it. The TARDIS console hummed in response, and as Rose moved to look over his shoulder the screen flared back to life, in its Gallifreyan equivalent of a screensaver/desktop with circles rotating across the screen.

The Doctor pulled the cell phone from his pocket and dialed a few buttons in quick succession before holding it to his ear with his shoulder and resuming tapping at the TARDIS controls. "Hello, this is Esme, isn't it? Excellent. Look, normally I wouldn't have to do this manually, but the TARDIS computer's being a bit slow at the moment. I need you to enter the TARDIS frequency code onto your computer and establish contact with it so I can pull up the information on the Volturi I need from here in the TARDIS console room."

He started rattling off a complex list of instructions, banging on more controls as he went. Rose quickly lost interest as the words got longer and followed Alice around instead, watching her investigate the TARDIS.

"Careful," she warned. "Don't blow something up or anything."

Alice smiled blindingly. "I know what I'm doing. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Rose snorted. "All right, then. If you say so." She moved over to stand by Bella, who was watching the Doctor at the controls with an expression of confused fascination.

"What do you think?" she asked, tapping Bella's shoulder.

She turned to look at Rose. "It's unbelievable. And you can go anywhere in this?"

"Anywhere and anytime in our universe," said Rose. "And sometimes in other ones. Although as far as I know that's usually an accident."

"All right," said the Doctor into the phone. "That should do it. Thanks. We'll reestablish contact after the TARDIS materializes." He took the phone from his shoulder, snapped it shut, and put it back in his pocket, staring at the console screen the entire time. Edward moved to look at it over his shoulder. It appeared to show some sort of subterranean building plan.

The Doctor scanned the screen summarily. "These Volturi are probably more advanced than they're letting on," he mused. "We should land the TARDIS outside and break in on foot. The less they know or find out about us, the better." He tapped the screen. "Here should probably work."

"I wouldn't," said Edward. "It doesn't look it, but that area's fairly open. I've seen it before. You'd want somewhere more out of the way." He indicated another place on the screen. "There seems like a good choice. Alice?"

She stepped beside them and viewed the screen herself. "Edward's placement is safer," she said. "There's less chance of us being discovered there."

The Doctor turned to the two of them, his tone suddenly serious. "Are you sure you want to participate in this? You know these Volturi are going to be mad at your family if they catch you trying to sabotage their existence. Rose and I can just run away to another universe. You'll have to stay here and face the consequences."

"If this secret were to become general knowledge, it could become disastrous for the Volturi's reputation," said Edward. "They can't use it as justification to destroy us. Not publicly, anyway. And between Alice and myself, we'll be ready when they try to make a move against us. My family isn't a favorite of the Volturi's to begin with." He stared at the Doctor determinedly. "If there's a way to help save lives from our kind, we have to try and help, Doctor. It's our responsibility."

"All right then," said the Doctor. He pulled a lever, and the TARDIS began its characteristic groaning _vwaarp_ noise.

"Hold on to something," Rose shouted as a precaution to the others, grabbing the railing around the edges of the TARDIS console. Bella followed suit. "It can get a bit bumpy." The TARDIS lurched, seeming to agree with her, as their journey to Italy and the headquarters of the Volturi began.


	7. Operation: Infiltrate and Sneak

**A/N: Sorry, I know it's been a really rather ridiculously long time, but I've had a *insert huge number* of things to do recently. "Recently" being the last few months, apparently. Shame on me. Do indeed plan to update more often in the future!**

**Apology in advance: There are going to be a reference or two in the next few chapters to Classic Who (particularly 4-5th Doctor era) that you'll miss if you haven't seen the episodes. And having read Twilight, as always, gives insight into how the characters' minds work.**

The TARDIS juddered to a stop with a particularly violent jolt and fell more or less silent. Rose managed to hang onto the railing, but Bella let go a second too early and made a minor collision with one of the TARDIS' coral-like beams. She got up before Edward could reach her to help, looking as though she were trying her very hardest to show that she had done that on purpose. Rose bit her lip to keep from grinning.

"All right," said the Doctor, flicking switches and staring down at the TARDIS console's controls. "Recharging the auxiliary power units. Old girl should be up and running in...oh, say, two hours. Two hour tour of Italy! Brilliant!"

"More like, 'two hours sneaking around the Volturi, hoping they don't catch us before we can run off,'" said Alice, grinning wickedly. "But I can see your point."

Rose shrugged. "Same thing to him."

Alice laughed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Anyway. I materialized the TARDIS without any time differential to save power, so it's really early morning here. Probably not too many people to worry about. Not that it'll help with the vampires, I know," he added, as Edward looked about to interrupt. "As for where we're looking for, I should be able to pick up the source of the electrical signature given off by the genetihomeostasis chamber by setting my sonic screwdriver to search for a harmonic frequency."

He pulled out said screwdriver and started fiddling around with it. "Let's see...No, not the delta wave setting. I don't think that'd really help us in this situation."

Edward raised an eyebrow speculatively. "Actually, I can think of someone it _would_ help..."

The Doctor glared at him exasperatedly. "No. Ah, here we are! Need to get out of the range of the TARDIS' harmonic frequencies, but other than that..." He dashed suddenly around the console and out the door, Alice and Jasper streaking after him with Rose and Bella struggling to keep up and Edward hovering behind Bella like a shadow.

The Doctor stopped short halfway through the alley, looking around bewilderedly. Edward had to grab Bella to stop her running headlong into Rose. A few seconds later, the Doctor's face cleared and he dashed off again.

"Does he always do that?" Bella panted as they ran down the rest of the alley and continued in the same direction to another one.

"You get used to it," Rose answered, grinning.

They ran down another two streets and several intersecting alleyways before the Doctor stopped for the final time, in the middle of what appeared to be some sort of alleyway. He looked around, bewildered, pointing the sonic screwdriver in all directions.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Down," she suggested.

He stared at her. "What? Oh, right!" He pointed the sonic screwdriver towards the ground, sweeping it back and forth. "Aha!" he exclaimed, pointing at a drain in the ground.

Bella bit her lip. "Again?" Edward opened his mouth, but Bella cut him off. "I know, I know, if I didn't want to I shouldn't have come. Never mind. Let's do it. Who's first?"

"I am," said Edward and the Doctor together, then looked at each other. "No, me and the Doctor'll go first," said Alice definitely. "Edward, you come after us, and Jasper'll drop Bella to you."

She turned to the Doctor. "Careful, it's pretty deep." She reached down and slipped through the hole in the street, abruptly disappearing in the darkness. There was a light thump a few seconds later. "Not that difficult," she whispered up jauntily.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Right."

The Doctor, however, shoved his screwdriver into his pocket and gamely lowered himself into the hole.

"Be careful," said Rose as he disappeared from sight. A few seconds later they heard a considerably louder thump than the one Alice had made, and a muffled "Ow." Rose snorted, and even Bella looked mildly amused.

Edward slipped into the hole after the Doctor after squeezing Bella's hand reassuringly. "It'll be fine, love," he said. "This time, I'll be there to catch you."

Bella nodded and smiled, blushing slightly, and Edward disappeared into the hole with another light thump almost identical to the one Alice had made. "Bella?" He whispered up a moment later.

Bella took a deep breath, with her lips pressed together, and let Jasper take her by the wrists and lower her gently into the hole. He gave her a calming smile and then carefully let her go. Rose couldn't help flinching at the _flump_ing sound that came up from the bottom of the hole a second later. She knew the vampires had hard skin - didn't that _hurt_?

Jasper looked at Rose. "Your turn."

She gulped nervously. "All right then..."

Jasper took her arms and lowered her into the hole. Rose pressed her lips together as hard as she could to keep from screaming as the air rushed past her and she fell, hard...into Edward's arms.

He looked down at her wide-eyed, shocked stare, and lifted one eyebrow, obviously amused. She was about to think, _I was right, that _ did_ hurt,_ but was completely sidetracked by having the handsome vampire's face just a few inches from her own.

After a few seconds, she recollected herself and said, "Thanks." Edward grinned, and set her down carefully on the floor. She looked away from Edward, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. She reminded herself forcefully that _Bella_ had dibs on him - lucky - and walked away, heading over to the Doctor. "So, where is this thing, anyway?" she said, looking at the sonic in his hand.

The Doctor waved the screwdriver around like a blue buzzing antenna trying to pick up a signal. "I think it's this way."

"All right then - " Rose began, beginning to walk forward, but suddenly a small dark figure hit her hard, driving her against the wall and saying, "Shhh!"

"Someone's coming," Alice whispered, moving away from Rose. "They'll be able to hear us in twenty-one seconds. If we talk above a whisper," she added, staring hard at Rose, "they'll be able to hear us in five. Move!"

Alice shepherded them in the opposite direction down the hallway as the Doctor twiddled with his sonic. After a few seconds, it became considerably quieter.

Alice stopped them around the third corner and closed her eyes. "It's all right," she said, talking normally. "They're out of earshot. For now."

"We have to be careful, though," Edward added. "I could hear some of what those two were thinking. There isn't a guard system on the catacombs, exactly, but the Volturi make sure it is never completely uninhabited for any period of time."

"Well, then, we'll be careful. Now, let's see if I can relocate that signal." The Doctor waved the sonic around again and hurried down the hallway. He stopped at a fork in tunnels ahead of them. He pointed the screwdriver down the left passageway. It made a positive-sounding beep sound. He pointed it down the right, and it made a suspiciously similar beeping sound.

He whacked it on his hand and tried again. It did the same thing. He glared at it. "Behave."

Alice giggled. "Maybe they both take us there."

"That's ridiculous. Why would they have two passages to their weak point when they only need one? " The Doctor and Edward moved farther down the tunnel on the left, looking from side to side.

"There's a side passage here, Doctor." Edward pointed out a dark tunnel branching off to one side. The Doctor headed further down the tunnel to investigate, poking his head into it.

"True," he agreed, "But it seems to lead away from where we're headed - "

Suddenly there was a gasp of horror behind them. Everyone turned to look at Alice.

"One of the Volturi just made a snap decision," she whispered. "Five seconds! Shut up and hide, _now!_"


	8. Split Up

**A/N: See? I promised to update again soon, didn't I? Again, some 5th-era Classic Who references in this chapter. Ooh, and an extemporaneous spur-of-the-moment Tennyson reference. Have fun!**

Edward immediately grabbed the Doctor and shoved him down the hallway. "Take Bella and _go_!" he hissed at Alice. "Other passageway?"

Alice nodded and picked up Bella - who was still too surprised to protest - and the two of them and Jasper disappeared silently.

"Not enough," Edward whispered. "They'll hear..."

The Doctor stared at Edward for a second, then nodded. He slid silently down the wall, sitting against it and closing his eyes. Edward stared at him in amazement as he slowly stopped moving.

In the lit passageway, two lovely forms walked by on silent footsteps. Edward and the Doctor were statues in the darkness, and they walked on by without looking to either side.

Edward and the Doctor remained motionless half a minute after the vampires had disappeared, then Edward exhaled silently. "They're gone, Doctor," he murmured, relieved, but the Doctor didn't answer. "Doctor?" Edward reached down and shook the Doctor's shoulder. His eyes snapped opened, and he inhaled sharply.

"Right," he muttered, shaking his head. "Sorry. It's been a long time since I pulled that one."

"... Respiratory bypass system?" Edward asked curiously.

The Doctor made a face. "In emergencies, Time Lords can suppress their vital functions for short periods of time. Yet another random ability that occasionally makes itself useful."

"Lucky," Edward said. "There's no way a vampire would miss a double heartbeat a few feet away. They must have just eaten, to miss your scent."

"It's been useful in several situations," the Doctor answered, "just not particularly lately. I haven't used that one since..." He trailed off. "Anyway. This way?"

The Doctor headed off down the tunnel, Edward following. "I hope Alice and the others aren't having any problems," he said.

"Oh, I'm sure they're fine," the Doctor said. Then he added, almost to himself, "You have to give them more breathing room," the Doctor said. "Otherwise they never grow. They don't appreciate being fenced in."

Edward sighed. "I don't understand you."

"You can tell what I'm thinking," the Doctor pointed out.

"But - " Edward broke off, frustrated. "How can you just let them be like that? Put them in danger all the time?"

"I don't make that choice for them," the Doctor said. "They make it themselves."

"Always?"

"There's danger everywhere," the Doctor said, turning a corner. There was another fork ahead of them. He took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, looked at it for a second, then stopped, fiddling with it again. "You can't always protect them. It's just not possible. Better that they know - "

"Know how to protect themselves when the time comes?" Edward stepped in front of the Doctor and looked at him. "I don't understand," he said again, looking up at the Doctor. "Isn't it better if they never met you?"

The Doctor looked up at that, a darkly quizzical expression on his face. "_'Tis better to have loved and lost -_ "

"I know. But can we make that choice for them?"

"The time comes when they must make it for themselves. And I know what most of them choose."

"But I see them all, Doctor," Edward said. "All the different faces inside you. Eventually, almost all of them choose something else. And those that don't... That's worse, isn't it? I feel your fear for her. She says she'll never leave, and you're terrified. Because you've heard that before. And it always ends."

The Doctor just watched him as Edward went on, staring into the Doctor's eyes. "And it's worse, now. Having to look at us, when we bring back so many memories. Their faces are particularly clear. Two that were truly lost. They both remind you of her, each in their own way, and bring the fear of her fate..."

The Doctor looked away down the tunnel and buzzed the screwdriver. "Come on." He headed down the tunnel again, not looking back. After a few seconds, Edward shook his head and followed.

They walked down the tunnel for a few minutes longer in silence before the Doctor spoke. "The signal's getting stronger. We should be there soon."

It took the Doctor several seconds to notice that Edward had suddenly frozen in the middle of the hallway. He turned to see Edward looking horrified. Suddenly, Edward sprung forwards so fast that he was a blur, disappearing around the corner. The Doctor ran after him, but by the time he turned the last corner, Edward was already struggling futilely with two cloaked guards at the entrance to a large chamber. The Doctor was able to catch a glimpse of complex-looking scientific instruments and flashing lights before he was distracted by a freezing, granite-hard hand on his shoulder.

A voluptuously beautiful lady vampire stared him up and down appraisingly. "Well," she purred. "Hello, again, Edward."

"Heidi," he growled.

"We've already caught two others from your coven, and the human," she sneered in a musical voice. "And now we find this... specimen. Come along with us then, Edward. I'm sure you have quite the story to tell."


	9. Captured!

**A/N: Sorry. It's been a while again, hasn't it? *chagrined* I'll keep updating, I promise! Although this chapter didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped it would. Hope it's OK anyway!**

Edward and the Doctor had no choice but to follow the beautiful vampire down the hallway. Silently, out of her range of her vision, the Doctor held up three fingers and raised his eyebrows. _What happened to Rose?_

Edward shook his head and pulled apart his hands, then jerked a thumb down the tunnel. _Separated._

The Doctor rolled his eyes. _Always._

Edward almost smiled, looking over the sheafs of similar memories passing through the Doctor's mind. Then the lady vampire turned her head slightly to look back at them, and they looked quickly away from each other.

They went down several tunnels and finally into a series of well-lit industrial hallways. The Doctor raised a quizzical eyebrow at these, but didn't comment.

Eventually they arrived in a large, poorly lit round room. Just visible in the darkness was a crowd of heads that seemed to be staring at them.

Off to one side, Alice, Jasper, and Bella were being watched by a small girl with an angelic face. Edward glowered at the girl, but she didn't notice; she was focusing too hard on Bella to bother paying attention. Bella seemed to be terrified by the intensity of her stare, but she smiled bravely as she met Edward's eyes. He didn't return the smile.

Out of the shadows, a light, feathery voice spoke. "Ah, Edward. Back again so soon? We were just greeting Alice and Bella."

"How civil of you, Aro," said Edward in a monotone.

"Well, I hope you don't mind Jane persisting in her little experiments," the voice continued. Slowly, a vampire with a chalk-white face emerged from the shadows, smiling beneficently as he spoke. "No harm done, after all. Although young Alice and Jasper tried to interfere at one point, and I'm afraid Jane lost her temper. Just for a moment." Both the two vampires glared lividly at Aro, though Alice threw an apologetic glance at Edward first.

At that moment, the sound of struggling and loud protests echoed from behind the door. The Doctor closed his eyes in resignation.

"Let me go!" Rose cried as the door was flung open. She was struggling wildly in the arms of a large, muscular vampire who looked deeply amused. "Cut it out! Let go of me!"

The vampire let her down in the middle of the room, by Aro. "We found this one skulking farther up the hallway," he reported deferentially. "Very...vivacious." He smiled in a way that made the Doctor glare at him.

"Thank you, Felix," said Aro, turning to look at Rose with apparent fascination. "So, young one, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not saying anything. Who the hell are you?" asked Rose uneasily, looking away. She spotted the Time Lord looking at her. "Doctor! You all right?"

In the next instant, she screamed and collapsed to the tower's floor, writhing in agony.

Before the Doctor could react with anything more than shock, a high, dispassionate voice spoke from across the room. "Interesting," said the little girl standing by Alice and Jasper. "This one doesn't seem to be immune. Don't be mean to Master," she added chidingly to Rose, who was still shrieking in pain.

"Stop it!" the Doctor yelled furiously at Jane. "Leave her alone!"

"That's enough, Jane," said Aro. A second later, Rose lay still on the ground, panting. After a few moments, she got to her feet, glaring at the vampires that stepped closer to her again, especially Felix.

"Master," said Jane sweetly, drifting towards Aro. "May I try the strange one, with two heartbeats?"

"In a moment, perhaps," Aro murmured, placing a thin white hand affectionately on her head. "We wouldn't want to be ungracious hosts, after all."

"Of course," said Jane, her voice once again detached and cool. She stayed standing behind Aro, his arm around her like that of a doting grandfather. A young boy moved to stand beside her, so close to identical that normally one would guess they were twins. They surveyed the room around them with identical impassive stares.

Aro turned to the Doctor again. "In this situation, I would hardly consider you to be in a position to make demands. What brings you here to our humble abode? I love new friends," he said, clapping his hands together in delight. "Especially ones unlike anything any of us has ever seen before. Think of the knowledge we can gain!

"Dear ones," he added to the room at large, "look at this man! He is something completely new, completely unknown to any of us. All can hear the two hearts that beat in his chest. His scent, too, is something completely new - almost as though he had the blood of many in his veins..." Aro licked his lips appreciatively, a quick darting motion almost invisible to the eye. "I would love to see him become one of us," he added, quietly but just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Rose shuddered in disgust and tried to take a step away, towards the Doctor, but Felix shook his head and took her arm. She recoiled from him in disgust, but he held on to her arm, ignoring her efforts to get loose.

"And something in his eyes," Aro murmured, ignoring Rose and Felix's conflict. He was staring straight at the Doctor, as though trying to see his thoughts. "So much knowledge in those eyes. Centuries of it. Young, but older than any of us would expect...

"...Come shake my hand, Doctor."

The Doctor stared at Aro as though he were insane. "What?"

"You are my guest, and it is only custom." The vampire stepped forward eagerly, hand outstretched.

"No!" someone yelled from across the room. Every head turned to stare at Bella, who was staring intensely at the Doctor. "If he touches you, he reads all your thoughts! Ever!" A vampire approached Bella menacingly, and she shrank back, but didn't take her eyes off the Doctor.

Rose stared at the Doctor with horror. "Doctor, don't--" Demetri reached out with his other hand and clamped it firmly over Rose's mouth. She struggled violently, but couldn't speak.

"Rose! It's all right. Calm down," the Doctor called out to her, still staring down Aro.

The expression on Rose's face clearly said that the Doctor had obviously gone completely mad, but he ignored her and stepped slowly towards Aro, who waited for him with a smile of gloating anticipation on his face.

The Doctor stared hard at Aro as he came within hand-shaking distance. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he said softly.

"Of course," said Aro, looking surprised. "Knowledge exists for learning, Doctor. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Your choice," the Doctor said. Closing his eyes, he held out his hand. Eagerly, Aro grasped it.

Three seconds later, every one of the Volturi collapsed, shrieking. Rose, Bella, and Jasper stared at the fallen vampires around them in shock, but the Doctor, Edward, and Alice didn't look terribly surprised.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled. The six figures sprinted from the room, and soon had plunged once again into the darkness of the tunnels under the castle.


	10. Waiting

As soon as the tunnels had plunged them into complete darkness, the six figures stopped as though through mutual consensus. Rose and Bella leaned against the stone walls, panting hard.

"That was...different," Rose gasped.

Alice laughed smugly. "What's different is that Bella managed to run that far without tripping over her own two feet."

"Shut up, Alice," Bella muttered, blushing crimson in the darkness.

"What happened back there?" Jasper asked, still souding shocked.

"I gave Aro what he wanted," the Doctor said grimly. "Except it was more than he'd bargained for."

"What?" said Rose, Bella, and Jasper together.

"The Doctor's a Time Lord," Edward explained. His voice sounded slightly strained compared to its usual silky smoothness. "He's got the memories of not only more than 900 years and ten different lives, but also all the knowledge from his universe of what was, is, can be, will be, and could have been. The Time Vortex itself runs through his mind. That's quite a lot, even for Aro. The Doctor used the ambient psychic bond between members of the Volturi to relay it to all of them. It caused a mental overload. That's quite a lot of information," he added to the Time Lord, a little resentfully.

"I almost felt it, too, when it was going to happen," said Alice reassuringly, putting her hand on Edward's shoulder. "I also saw that the knowledge will eventually wipe itself from your mind, for your own protection. It'll stop soon, I promise."

"What?" asked Bella, her voice high with anxiety. "Are you okay, Edward?" She stumbled over to take his hand.

"I'm fine," said Edward, smiling slightly down at her. "Like Alice said, it'll go away. But it also means we'll have the Volturi on our backs again fairly soon, even if the attack was aimed directly at hindering them. We have to hurry. Alice, Jasper, can you get Rose and Bella back to the TARDIS? The Doctor and I will meet you back there after we sort this out."

"Sort what out?" Rose demanded, immediately suspicious. "We should come, too."

"No," said Edward forcefully. "You, Bella, Alice, and Jasper go back to the TARDIS. Now."

"What good will we possibly do there?" Rose asked angrily.

"Edward, what are you planning?" Alice asked, suspicious.

"You can see the future, and you know that I haven't _decided_ yet," Edward growled, frustrated. "Which is why I want them _out of the way_. Just in case. Now go. That way," he added, pointing down the tunnel. "Three rights in a row at the places where the path forks, then two lefts."

"Look, just do what he says," said the Doctor placatingly as Edward took his arm and dragged him down a dark hallway. "It'll be fine. Rose has a key to get you inside. Make sure none of the Volturi try to get in or anything. Good luck!" And with that, he and Edward disappeared down the passageway.

Rose stood in the middle of the tunnel with her hands on her hips, staring after them furiously. Then she wheeled and turned to face Bella. "How can you stand it when he does that? You just let him?"

"What else am I supposed to do?" Bella pointed out, defensive. "He's stronger than I am."

"He's not _here_ now, is he?"

"No," she admitted. "But _they _are, and I bet they agree with him."

"For the moment," Alice said absently, her eyes hard as she stared down the dark hallway after vampire and Time Lord. "Come on."

Alice picked up Bella, Jasper picked up Rose, and the two vampires ran easily down the pitch-black tunnels. Rose and Bella stared blindly into the darkness, until a blue light slowly became brighter, and then the TARDIS came into view in front of them.

Jasper let Rose down, and she pulled the TARDIS key out of her pocket, fitting it expertly into the lock. "The first time I did this, I almost broke the key," she said to Bella, who was watching, and smiling fondly down at the TARDIS door handle. "I couldn't get it open. The Doctor said something about alternate dimensions in the keyhole. He had to magnetize the key or something like that for me so it would work every time. And now it does!" she finished triumphantly as the lock clicked and she pushed the TARDIS door open.

Bella walked after Rose into the police box. "This thing is amazing," she said, still looking all around as she went inside. "And it travels through time _and_ space, and occasionally from universe to universe? That must be so complicated..."

"Yes, well, the Doctor's the only one who can operate her," said Rose, leaning her elbows on the console and staring up at the central column. "Well, other people can, but it isn't generally a good idea. Even he has trouble sometimes."

"Why is it so complicated?" Bella asked, curious.

"The TARDIS is alive," Rose said softly, turning to look at her. "It can sometimes understand people telepathically, although that's really dangerous. It also translates everything that goes into my and the Doctor's head every time we land on an alien planet or in a different time."

"Alien planets? Is that common?" Bella sounded astonished.

"Pretty common, yeah. About as often as we skip into the past or the future." Rose smiled. She made it sound so ordinary, but to tell the truth, it was hardly something you ever got used to, let alone something that could ever become commonplace.

Bella shook her head, her forehead creasing in something resembling confusion. "That's such a...strange way to live. It's like a bunch of moments. You don't even really have a home. Always roaming..."

"No, I have two homes. One in the Powell Estate in London, where I started out...and the other one here." Rose smiled softly. "This is my real home now, I guess. It's a great place to live."

"But your life seems so uncertain, somehow," said Bella. "So dangerous...you never know what tomorrow will bring. It could be anything..."

"Yes, well," said Rose uncomfortably. "That's the way the Doctor likes it. And I'll follow him wherever he goes. He'll never get rid of me."

Bella searched her face, comprehension in her eyes. "He's tried, hasn't he?"

"I'm not the first companion he's had," Rose admitted wryly, looking at the ground. "But he's different, somehow. He just is. He loves things with his whole heart, sometimes - or with both of them, I suppose it'd be - so somehow it doesn't matter if he's loved someone else. I'm still getting used to that.

"Very different from your Edward, though," she went on, looking at Bella with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. She sat down on the floor of the TARDIS, against the railings, and motioned to Bella to join her. "He's very protective, isn't he?"

"He doesn't like risks around me," Bella admitted, blushing a little as she sat next to the blond girl. "That's probably my fault, though. I have horrible luck. Edward says if there's anything dangerous in a hundred-mile radius, it will inevitably find me."

"Still, it's a weird way to think," Rose mused, staring up at the TARDIS ceiling. "It's like he's got this obsessive protective streak for some reason. Even the Doctor's not that bad about it; he _knows_ he can't control the universe. As much as he might sometimes want to," she added as an afterthought.

Bella frowned uncomfortably. "The thing about vampires is, they don't die, but Edward believed for a while they had no souls. I think he's changed his mind about that now, but... he's still got a ridiculous guilt complex, and at the same time he wants to keep me around as long as he can."

"It's a question of _souls_?" Rose asked, surprised. "That is so...human." She couldn't come up with another way to put it, but she guessed that probably wouldn't make sense to someone who hadn't been off the planet for her whole life. "Still, he's got to change you sooner or later, I suppose," she went on, thinking the scenario through. "If he's so worried about you being safe. And vampires literally live forever, right? They don't age?"

"No, they don't. I brought him around eventually. Although as you can see," Bella said, gesturing down at herself, "we're still working out the details. ...But what about the Doctor? Edward said something about, what was it, 900 years and 10 lives...?"

"Yeah. Time Lords do this thing when they're about to die - they regenerate, change their entire bodies. They almost become different people, except with all their memories still intact. Well...assuming it goes all right. I've seen the Doctor regenerate once. You should have seen him before, he was completely different..." Rose trailed off softly, looking at the side of the TARDIS console as though there was some old memory hidden there for her eyes alone.

"...So he lives longer than a human would? And..." Bella stopped too, looking at Rose with sympathy written in her face.

Rose looked down at the younger girl and smiled. It was sort of a sad smile. "Yeah. But that's not gonna stop me if I can help it."

Bella nodded in comprehension, smiling too. She knew what is was like to love something that seemed like an impossible dream. It was worth it, just in case there might be a way, one chance in a million that you might end up for once with your dream as real in your hands instead of flitting away to the horizon and leaving you behind...

While they had been speaking, Alice and Jasper had entered the TARDIS behind them, and Alice had curled up onto the couch-like chair by the console, staring into the distance, Jasper watching over her protectively. Suddenly, though, Rose and Bella heard a sharp voice across the console that snapped them right out of their conversation. "What is it, Alice?" Jasper asked, reaching down and grasping her shoulder. Rose and Bella stood immediately at his tone and hurried across to the other side of the TARDIS to watch the scene.

"I don't know, exactly..." Alice said, her voice managing to be distant and frustrated at the same time. "The Doctor's hard to see around, and Edward's not making any solid decisions, really, but I think..." She trailed off for a moment, then her eyes snapped back to the present. "We need to get to the Great One _now_," she said definitively. "Before Edward can do what I think he's going to think about doing."

Rose raised an eyebrow at this convoluted statement, but Alice's tone was not to be argued with. Within seconds, the two vampires had the two humans on their backs and were racing out of the TARDIS and back down the dark underground hallways of the Volturi's lair, pausing only to slam the TARDIS door shut behind them.


	11. Choice

**A/N: Sorry, it's been a while again, hasn't it? I'm not sure if I got this chapter quite right, but I hope you like it anyway!**

Edward and the Doctor hurried along the dark hallways, the Doctor struggling to keep up with the vampire's swift pace despite his longer legs. Neither of them said anything, but the Doctor watched Edward carefully, wondering what he was planning. If Edward heard the Doctor's speculations, he didn't say anything.

They reached their destination very quickly. It was directly beneath the Volturi's headquarters, and was probably part of the original architecture. The room itself was very old, the walls pitted with age and ancient pillars in the corners. This contrasted oddly with the unearthly light that wavered through the room, coming from numerous flat-screen computer monitors set up throughout the room and connected to various complicated-looking controls, flashing out new statistics every few seconds.

Edward stopped in the doorway of the room and let the Doctor move into the room, examining the different controls and muttering to himself. "This is...nice," the Doctor said eventually, still poking at various interfaces scattered through the room. "Nothing exceptional, but it's sleek. Probably decades ahead of its time. Maybe centuries. But very specialized...they made this all from scratch. Impressive. All to support one life form...mind you, it's doing its job. I would guess that the Great One himself is somewhere under our feet right now." The Doctor stared at a screen for another few moments before he glanced at the vampire still haunting the doorway. "So, what do you think?

"I'm more interested in what you think, Doctor," said Edward, his face blank.

"Yes, well...but that's no fun! After all, this is your universe. None of this is up to me. It's not my decision; it's yours. But I can help you to do whatever you choose." The Doctor indicated the controls. "Just say the word."

Edward considered the Doctor's words, frowning as he thought. "Can we kill it? Is it possible?"

"It's possible, sure," said the Doctor, nodding. "All we'd have to do is turn off all the equipment. Or better, we could sabotage it. But, well..."

"But what?" asked Edward suspiciously.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you'd really like the consequences."

***

Still riding Jasper's back, Rose jumped as Alice swore in her high-pitched voice. "We have a problem."

"We didn't before?" Bella asked, sounding panicky, but Jasper overrode her. "What's that?"

"The Volturi are becoming coherent enough to plan. It's not solid yet, but I think we have about...seven and a half minutes before they reach the Great One's chambers. That's seven and a half minutes to do whatever we're doing and get the hell out of there," said Alice tensely. "Plus, I don't trust Edward. We really need to hurry."

Jasper nodded, and Rose thought the vampires sped up, if that was even possible.

***

Edward stared at the different controls, pondering. "All right, so say killing it isn't...desirable. This does regulate the Great One's genetic structure. How extensively can we reprogram? No, don't say anything, just think through it."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at that but did as Edward commanded, staring at the ceiling as he ran through different possible scenarios in his mind. They stayed that way for several minutes, in silence.

"No," said Edward finally, voice tense, "It's not sufficient. We still have a duty to fix things. If the only way's to kill the thing straight out, then we have to do it."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea," the Doctor said. "Don't forget you're not the only one who has a say in things."

"Do we really have a choice? What's the point of coming all this way if we do nothing?" Edward demanded. "We could end all the killing, everywhere, here and now. I'd say that's worth--"

"No!" came a shrill voice from down the hallway, and suddenly Alice and Rose appeared in the room, Jasper and Bella hot on their heels. "Edward, I'm sorry, but touch those controls and I'll have to hurt you," Alice continued. "I've seen what'll happen."

"Edward, what?" Bella cut in, her tone sharp for once as she recognized the expression on his face. "What are you planning?"

"Killing the Great Vampire will kill all of us, Edward," Alice whispered. "Us, and all the vampires everywhere. Do you really want that?"

"Considering how many human lives we save by doing so," said Edward, words coming fast and hard, "maybe. How can we not, given the choice?"

"It's not your choice," said Jasper suddenly. "If you try, I'll stop you. I won't let _anyone_ hurt Alice."

"Besides," Alice cut in quickly, "Edward, you wouldn't just be dooming us. You've seen the future, because I've seen it. If you do kill the Great One, its death throes would be enough to bring the entire Volturi headquarters down on our heads."

"Not only that, but half the city as well," the Doctor added. "That's more deaths to add to the list."

"And they wouldn't get out in time," Alice said. "The Doctor and Bella and Rose. If you could even convince Bella to leave. So you'd be killing her, too."

Edward glowered at Alice, who smiled sweetly. "So that's it," she said. "I believe we win."

"Fine," said Edward, defeated. "We have a little less than five minutes to alter the system as much as we can." He turned toward the Doctor. "Show me what to do."


	12. A Quick Getaway

Before the Doctor so much as opened his mouth to answer Alice's command, she was at the controls, Edward a millisecond behind her. The two of them started adjusting various buttons and levers so fast her fingers blurred.

The Doctor watched them, looking slightly annoyed, but then they turned to look at him over their shoulders. "Don't stop," they both said eerily at the same moment.

"You have to keep thinking about it, Doctor," said Alice, continuing as Edward fell silent. "I'm following the instructions you're going to come up with. Watch us and change your instructions as we catch up. Or just think you're going to. I'm taking your instructions from the future. Just make them keep changing."

"That's a little difficult, even for a Time Lord," the Doctor pointed out. "Tampering with immediate possible time lines - "

"Don't worry, Doctor," Jasper interjected. "She's been doing this for years."

"Just keep thinking through it," Alice commanded imperiously. "We'll do the rest."

The Doctor shrugged and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and watched as the two vampires dashed back and forth across the room almost too quickly for human eyes to follow.

"Tell me now you aren't glad I came," said Alice to her brother, not looking up from flicking at a series of switches.

"You already know what I'm going say," Edward replied from across the room, typing so fast his fingers blurred on the keyboard, "so I don't have to."

Rose found herself edging towards Bella. "Okay, that's just creepy," she muttered.

Bella shook her head. "They're just like that. You get used to it."

Both girls jumped as the ground trembled slightly underfoot. The Doctor, though, didn't look surprised. "We're disturbing the Great One's homeostasis," he explained, voice raised over the distant rumbling sound, as dust fell from the ceiling and the cords and tubes connecting the various contraption. "He's semiconscious and mobile. It shouldn't be too serious."

"Shouldn't be?" Jasper demanded, eyes narrowed.

"Shouldn't be," the Doctor confirmed.

Jasper firmly pulled Rose and Bella over to stand in the doorway. For once, neither one argued.

"Doctor!" Edward called. "The readings on this say - " he started reading out a string of numbers and figures at an incredibly fast rate, staying in front of one screen while Alice made adjustments to various instruments in different places across the room. The Doctor watched them intently, taking in every movement and word...

Finally, Alice seemed to snap a little out of her trance. "Doctor, we have to finish now," she called. "We're almost out of time. How do we stabilize?"

The Doctor nodded, and suddenly Edward and Alice were dashing around the chamber so quickly they really did blur at the edges. Then, in Alice said, "Jasper, the Doctor," and they were dashing out of the room before Rose and Bella even realized they'd been picked up again.

The tunnels were still dark and cold, but now they were shaking slightly as well. "We're cutting it really, really close," Alice whispered, sounding worried. "We _should_ make it back, but...go left!"

The vampires swerved hard into an available hallway. "Alice, you're going to give me a heart attack," Edward growled. "Can you see _any_ further ahead?"

"We _should_ make it," she repeated. "But there's some bits that are up to chance, and having these aliens around isn't helping! Right again!"

They swerved again. "Any more detours?" Jasper demanded.

"I don't think so," Alice said, shaking her head. "Just follow my lead. We're heading straight there. There's enough power built up in the TARDIS to get us back where we came from and then some, as far as I can tell. The TARDIS is even harder to predict than the Doctor."

"Jasper, can you help us out at all here?" Edward demanded.

"I can try," he said dubiously.

"Just don't mess with _our_ emotions," Alice said quickly.

"Like I said, I'll try." Jasper closed his eyes for a moment, still running with the other two down the passageway.

As he opened them, Alice grinned, teeth managing to glint despite the almost total darkness. "Hey, thanks. It didn't make a huge difference, but it's enough to make things that much easier. They won't catch us."

"Glad to do _something_ to help," Jasper muttered.

"Hey, you still beat _us_, Jasper," Rose pointed out.

"By a million," Bella added, rolling her eyes.

He _might_ have smiled at that, but neither human could be sure. "Thanks."

Suddenly, Rose realized that she could see Jasper's face in blue light...as she thought it, the TARDIS came into view.

The Doctor slid off Jasper's back and pulled out the TARDIS key, slid it expertly into the lock, and shoved the door open. "All right," he said, "everybody in."

Rose, Alice, Jasper, Bella, and Edward piled into the TARDIS, the Doctor swinging in after them. He stared out at the dark hallways for one more moment before swinging the police box door shut and turning to see Alice and Edward standing at the console to the TARDIS.

"Oy!" he said, annoyed. "No one but me flies the TARDIS! Off! Rose, get them off!"

Rose, rolling her eyes, stepped forward and grabbed the two vampires' elbows. "Come on, you two. The TARDIS is his baby, no touching."

Bella grinned madly at this, but the two vampires looked slightly annoyed as they backed up to the railing with Rose.

Edward stepped away and wrapped his arm firmly around Bella, cementing her to to the TARDIS railing despite her protests. "No bruises this time, all right?" he said to her, smiling darkly.

She struggled uselessly to loosen his grip. "You are so _pushy_."

"If I can't save humanity from the scourge of the undead, the least I can do is protect you from further injury."

Rose raised her eyebrows amusedly at this comment, but suddenly the TARDIS jerked unexpectedly to one side. "Doctor!" she yelled as she was thrown against the railing.

"It wasn't me!" he called back, scrambling up from the TARDIS seat where he had been thrown. "It's the Volturi, they must be trying to get in! It's fine, it's not like they can - "

The TARDIS jerked again, this time to the other side. "Just get us out of here, Doctor," Jasper suggested tightly, holding on to the railing himself.

"Just a minute," he panted, pulling a lever. "There! Hold on!"

A surprised Felix and a furious Jane stepped back helplessly as the TARDIS flashed, made a strange wheezing-groaning noise, and disappeared, leaving nothing but darkness and frustrated Volturi wondering if they would ever figure this one completely out.


	13. Unfortunate Landing

The interior of the TARDIS was almost eerily quiet as its six passengers hurtled at the usual breakneck pace through time and space. The Doctor examined the TARDIS screen as he stood by the console, and the rest of them stood in various positions around him, watching.

It was Bella who broke the silence. "So...mission accomplished?" she asked in a small voice, from out of the crook of Edward's arm. Edward raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't respond.

"Well, more or less," the Doctor answered, not looking up from the console.

"We all got away from the Volturi," Rose pointed out.

"And you managed to sabotage the equipment somewhat," Jasper cut in. He looked from the Doctor to Edward to Alice, and saw all of their faces close. "Right?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Well...maybe."

"Maybe what?" Jasper demanded, irritated. "Alice?"

"We managed to change some of the genetic data," Alice answered honestly. "But not as much as we'd hoped."

"How so?" he pressed.

"We couldn't kill him," Edward explained. "We couldn't lessen his influence, we couldn't end his immortality. Not without killing every vampire in existence. And somebody," he added, glaring at Alice and Jasper, "wasn't going to let that happen."

"Darn straight she wouldn't," Bella growled up at Edward. Rose, the Doctor, and even Jasper stared in surprise at the fierceness in her voice. "_I_ would've stopped you, if she hadn't."

Edward glared at her. "You wouldn't - "

"I'd have found a way. Trust me."

"Anyway," said the Doctor, steering the conversation away from dangerous waters, "We weren't able to do anything drastic, but we might have done something. I set Edward and Alice up to change the basic genetic makeup of the vampire at the most basic level - little tiny differences, but they might add up to a lot." He paused. "Thing is...we don't know."

"Okay..." said Rose, and judging from the looks on Bella's and Jasper's faces, thy were just about as confused. "But Alice can see the future, yeah? So why - "

"If there are any changes, they're too subtle for me to detect," Alice admitted. "Either that, or they're too far into the future, with too many decisions in between. I'm not omniscient...and the Doctor only has knowledge of the future of _his_ universe."

"How'd you know that? I didn't say it," the Doctor protested.

"You were about to," Alice said smugly.

The Doctor frowned and turned back to the controls.

"So we might have done something, but we might not?" Jasper summed up, looking from Edward to Alice.

Alice made a face. "Yeah. Sorta sucks, but at least we're all fine. So there's no reason to get all huffy, Edward. You did your best."

"So, nothing too terrible happened," Bella pointed out carefully.

"Well, we probably made the Volturi very annoyed with us," Alice began...then froze. Edward turned to stare at her, hard.

"But it's not as though they can get back at you," the Doctor said from the console, not noticing. "I mean, come on, great big giant vampire under their castle that's keeping all the other vampires alive, and the rest of your kind doesn't even know about it? Not the sort of thing to advertise - "

Alice turned to him, glaring. "_Why_ has the future just disappeared?"

The Doctor and Rose stared at her, nonplussed. "_What?"_ they said together.

Edward looked from Alice to the Doctor, to Jasper, who had flashed to Alice, hovering over her protectively.

"What did you do?" Alice asked, her gaze focused and yet still somehow blank. "Everything was just fine."

"You can see the future through the vortex?" the Doctor asked, sounding impressed.

"Never mind that, Doctor," said Edward impatiently. "Something's made the future disappear. Did you do anything with the controls - put us in another alternate universe, withdraw from the time stream, something? Something to put the immediate future in jeopardy?"

The Doctor shook his head, nonplussed. "Just finalizing the landing coordinates."

The TARDIS shook slightly as the whooshing noise reverberated around the room. They were landing.

"Doctor," asked Edward, "where did you set us down?"

The Doctor shrugged innocently. "I don't know, exactly..."

Rose grinned, guessing what was coming. "Time to find out?"

After a moment, the Doctor nodded, grinning. "Be right back, just a nip outside and we'll know for sure, shall we?" He and Rose headed for the door, looking insanely excited. Edward looked at them incredulously, then grabbed Bella and pushed her back to behind the console.

"You, stay here and stay out of sight," he murmured. "I have a hunch as to where we are."

Bella's eyes were huge. "And where is that?"

"Nowhere good. But just stay here." He glared. "I mean it. _Stay_."

Bella looked mutinous, but Edward glared sulfurously until she reluctantly nodded. "It'll be fine, I promise," he murmured, caressing her cheek once before flitting over to stand behind Rose and the Doctor as they opened the door and walked out. Instead of following them, though, he hung back in the doorway, watching.

They stood in a remarkably nondescript stretch of forest. Above, the clouds were silver-gray, but unlike earlier in the day, it wasn't raining. Rose looked around, slightly unimpressed.

"All right, I see trees and some other plant-things. Not exactly the end of the universe or anything. So what - "

That's when the three teenagers in baggy sweatpants strode angrily into the clearing. They looked remarkably alike, muscular, copper-skinned and short-haired. One of them spoke. "Who are you and what are you doing on our territory?"


	14. Argument

**A/N: Um...HOLY FLIP IT'S BEEN A YEAR. SINCE I **_**UPDATED.**_** I SUCK, GUYS. DDD: I am officially a horrible person...but at least I'm posting now, right? Right? ^^;**

**Anyway...I'm a little out of practice with these guys (gee I wonder why?), and these new arrivals are a bit difficult to get right, but hopefully I can still get them in-character...**

Rose stared at the three new arrivals. All three of them were golden-skinned and muscular, with short-cropped dark hair. The one who had spoken looked particularly large and angry. Another was staring at them suspiciously. The third was relatively small, but was watching them curiously, but without suspicion or anger.

"Hello!" said the Doctor, his hands in his pockets. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose."

"Hi," said the kid, but the angry-looking one rounded on him, hissing, "Shut _up! _You have no idea who they are!"

The kid rolled his eyes, while the taller, calmer-looking one put a restraining hand on the other's shoulder. "Cool it, Paul," he said calmly. "You don't have to mouth off at everyone you meet."

"Shut up!" Paul hissed. "Can't you smell them?"

"They don't smell bad, just different," the youngest one objected in a low voice. "And anyway, that's rude." Without any more consultation, he walked forward to Rose, holding out his hand. "Hello. I'm Seth, and this is Embry and Paul. Don't worry about Paul," he added in an undertone. "He's got a real temper."

Rose stared. "Smell"? What was with these people?

The Doctor, unfazeable as always, grinned. "That's all right, we're used to it. So, we're on your _territory_, is that it? What's that mean, then?"

Seth made an uncomfortable face. "Well..."

"Wait," called Embry suddenly, his tone sharp. He was still holding back Paul. "Who's with you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Rose, confused.

"He _means_ we smell bloodsucker, and if they've tried to sneak onto our territory, they are _going down_," threatened Paul. "And so are you."

"They know about - " Rose began in a whisper, but the Doctor cut her off.

"_Sssh._ Well, actually...we landed here by mistake," the Doctor admitted. "We're just a little off-target. We didn't mean to infringe, so if you don't mind, we'll just head off now - "

"You _landed_?" Embry asked. "In that?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, long story. Anyway, if we could be going - "

"Are there any vampires in that box thing?" Paul demanded, impatient.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," said the Doctor, annoyed. "That's the TARDIS, and I just landed it by mistake..."

"You don't get it, do you?" Paul jeered. "If there's vampires on our turf, that means war. And we aren't afraid to take you on, too. If that's what it takes."

"Are they Cullens?" Seth interrupted. He didn't look angry, just worried.

Rose nodded.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem," Seth said confidently.

"_What?_" Paul exploded. "They are _on our_ - "

"By accident, yes. But they aren't actually on our land," Seth pointed out. "The Doctor said he'd landed by mistake - and do you see any vampires out here?"

Even Paul had to concede the obvious. "Well - "

"And I'm guessing that box - ship?" Seth broke off, looking at the Doctor for confirmation. When he nodded, he continued, "ship counts as some sort of neutral zone. It's not like those two and a vampire would _fit_ normally."

What was this? Rose wondered. The more she watched them, the less any of these boys made any sense...and how did they know about the vampires?

"Technically, the TARDIS interior does count as sanctuary on many planets, yes. You couldn't get into it, for one thing. Well, not if I didn't want you to."

"You see? Why don't we just let them go? It's not like they gain anything from being here," Seth pointed out.

"Oh no, kid," Paul growled. "They're not getting off that easily. If there are vampires on that ship, then they've broken the pact that has been between our tribes for generations. And don't tell me you can't smell them."

Again with the smell. What were these kids? Rose wondered. If she didn't know better, she would think they were in some sort of foreign military school or something. But the Doctor said they'd landed nearby...

Seth glared at him. "That's not - "

"Are you challenging me, kid?" the older boy barked.

"Whoa, whoa, Paul, back off," Embry cut in. "Seth has a point, too. I'm not saying he's _right_," he added, glaring at the younger boy, "but I'm not saying he's wrong, either."

"Well," the Doctor said, looking at the three of them cautiously, "I'd say in this case the sooner we leave, the better..."

"We can't just _let them go!"_ Paul yelled angrily. "At _least_ get Sam involved in this!"

Seth frowned uncomfortably. "I'm not sure that..."

Embry sighed. "No, Paul's right. We don't have the authority to let them go any more than we have to start a war between the clans. We need someone who knows better."

"Fine," said Paul. "I'll - "

"No," Embry cut in, "I'm thinking Seth should go."

"That brat's better than me?"

Embry rolled his eyes. "No, it's just that you aren't thinking past the vampires to the whole 'ship' thing, and if I went I couldn't count on the kid to keep you in check." Both Seth and Paul frowned at him. "Don't give me that, guys. Seth, go."

The younger boy darted into the trees and out of sight.

Rose shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "So..."

"Neither of you two move," Embry said, glaring at them, "or I _will_ set Paul on you."

Paul snarled and shoved the other boy's arm. "I'm nobody's guard dog." Embry rolled his eyes, glaring at the sky as though asking why he had been put into this situation.

The next instant, Rose screamed. A giant _thing_ had just rushed into the clearing, banking clumsily in front of the other two boys. As it stopped, she realized it was a wolf - a huge one.

_A werewolf...?_

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, bit of an awkward break! I wanted to do this scene in one chapter, but somehow it ended up stretching out longer and this was the only place I could think of to end it. But still...I think I can safely promise to **_**try**_** making the next update sooner than a year from now. ;)**


	15. A Kind of Resolution

**A/N: What? An update? -le gasp- Wellll, I promised less than a year till the next one, right? And I delivered! (Just barely.) Oh, also, this should be the second-to-last chapter – again, I'm hoping for not nearly as long a wait till the last one – so please enjoy!**

Even though it was Rose's second time seeing a werewolf in the flesh, it wasn't really any less shocking than the first time had been. Even the Doctor took a step backward, eyes wide.

The two boys, on the other hand, didn't seem afraid, or even particularly impressed. Embry rolled his eyes. "Seth, we can't talk to you unless you change _back_."

Rose wondered whether she was imagining the slightly abashed look on the wolf's face as he disappeared into the trees. The next second, Seth was running into view, panting. _Right, werewolf pack_, Rose thought to herself. _That makes sense..._

"Bad news and worse news, Em," he gasped. "I couldn't get hold of Sam, he's not in wolf form at the moment."

"And the bad news?" Embry asked hopefully.

"Sorry, that _was_ the bad news. The worse news is...well, another member of the Pack was in wolf form."

There was a short pause, then Embry groaned. "Oh, god, no. Jake." It wasn't really a question.

Looking pained, Seth nodded. Even Paul looked slightly discomfited by this turn of events.

"Wait, wait. Who's this 'Jake' person?" Rose asked nervously. Something had apparently gone very wrong.

"You're about to find out," said Seth, wringing his hands. "He's coming right now. I couldn't convince him to leave it alone. I _tried_, but – "

"It's okay, Seth, chill," said Embry tiredly. "It wasn't your fault. I should have thought of it, actually. He's in wolf form so much of the time now..."

He trailed off, and the five of them remained standing in the clearing. Rose forced herself not to look back to the TARDIS door, where she knew at least one vampire was watching. The occasional raindrop skittered down from the sky, and she shivered at the breeze whispering across the back of her neck.

They heard Jake long before they saw him – a wild crashing in the underbrush that sounded too violent to be anything _other_ than an oversized wolf on the rampage. It stopped before he came into view, though, and when Jake came striding through the underbrush he looked like any ordinary teenager, albeit a shirtless one who was insanely fit – and looked ready to kill something.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" he growled, head swinging from his pack-mates to rest on Rose and the Doctor. Rose winced but stopped herself from stepping back. The Doctor met his glare straight-on, not intimidated in the least.

"My craft made an accidental landing here," he said, straightforward as always. "We didn't mean to come here, and as soon as we get permission to reboard, we'll be on our way."

"So he _is_ claiming to be an alien," Jake said, turning to glance at Seth. "And here I thought you just had an overactive imagination." He sounded almost grudgingly impressed. Seth looked surprised and slightly gratified, and gave a halfhearted shrug.

"_But," _Jake said, turning back to the Doctor with iron back in his tone. "There are vampires on your 'ship.' Maybe one, but I'm guessing more."

"Cullens," Seth pointed out stubbornly, but Paul elbowed him in the ribs and Embry shushed him, and he subsided, looking sulky.

Jake raised an eyebrow, still in a staring match with the Doctor. "Are they?"

The Doctor nodded curtly. "Yes, all of them."

"_Why_ are they on your ship?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath, but jumped with the rest of them as the characteristic creak of the TARDIS door's hinges rang through the clearing. His and Rose's heads swiveled to look behind them, and Rose's mouth fell open.

"Doctor. Let me talk to him." It was Edward's voice, and upon hearing it all the werewolves, Seth included, tensed, going on high alert. Paul actually growled, and Seth murmured, "Em...?"

"Jacob," Edward murmured at the same time as Embry mumbled, "Let's let Jake make the call on this one."

Jacob stayed frozen to the spot, staring at Edward with an expression Rose couldn't quite read. It was certainly intense, and definitely wasn't friendly.

"Why are you here?" he repeated forcefully.

"We missed our landing," Edward answered. "The Doctor's 'ship,' as you put it, isn't acclimated to this universe. Besides, from what I'm picking up," he added, shooting a glance at the Doctor, "it happens to him rather frequently, regardless of location."

Jake raised an eyebrow at that, but continued. "And what were you doing riding it?"

"Trying to cause as much trouble for the Volturi as possible," Edward replied succintly, "which I'm sure is a course of action you'd approve of."

Jake stared him down for several more seconds before his eyes shifted to the Doctor, who was still standing outside the TARDIS and had his hands in his pockets. "Is that true?"

"Absolutely," the Doctor confirmed without hesitation.

"Any luck?" Seth asked, earning him a look from Embry.

The Doctor shrugged, ducking his head down modestly. "Well, some. Maybe a little."

"Really." Paul didn't sound terribly impressed.

"He's telling the truth," Rose butted in, but then shrank a little inwardly when all eyes shifted to her. "He is."

Jacob rolled his eyes – quite rudely, Rose thought – and turned back to Edward, engaging in a staring match.

"Rose," Edward murmured, eyes not leaving Jacob's, "get back in the TARDIS."

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"Because I have the feeling our conversation is about to be over," he answered.

She shrugged and slipped past him into the TARDIS. He barely let her by, still not breaking eye contact with Jacob.

"Is Bella with you?" the werewolf asked abruptly.

"Of course not," Edward answered smoothly. The Doctor kept his features carefully free of any expression, not responding at all to the lie. And Rose wasn't there to give it away, either..._Must have seen the question coming. Clever_.

"Really?"

Edward paused a second before his answer. "Jacob..." he said softly. "Do you think I'd ever put her into danger like that?"

After a long moment, Jacob nodded and took a step back. "I'd ask to be let in there, but if we entered neutral territory it'd definitely turn into a fight. So I'll let you off, this time. Get the hell off our land."

"How cordial of you," the Doctor said, tipping an imaginary cap at him.

"Shut up and go," Paul growled.

"While I don't agree with Paul's way of saying it," Embry sighed, "he has a point. Please leave."

Edward nodded. "Thank you. This won't happen again."

"It better not," Paul growled, but everyone ignored him.

Edward stepped back into the TARDIS, and the Doctor followed him, turning briefly before shutting the door.

"Pleasure meeting you," he said cheerfully, and then the door slammed. Inside the TARDIS, his expression slipped slightly, and he and Edward shared a long glance. After a moment, the Doctor nodded, then walked over to the TARDIS controls. Within a few seconds, they were off.

Alice and Jasper were also watching Edward, but he ignored them in favor of taking his traditional position at Bella's side.

"Close call," she said, with a nervous grin.

He returned the smile faintly, not taking his eyes off her. Jasper, Alice, and even Rose watched them suspiciously, but didn't say anything. The Doctor ignored all of them.

"Let's see..." he muttered. "I don't expect we'll end up in the wrong place twice, but it doesn't hurt to be careful." On the last word, he threw a lever and the TARDIS shook slightly. "This last hop might drain her a little, but a few minutes and we'll be safely on our way."

Rose nodded, finally smiling. "I'll tell you what, though...werewolves? Again?"

The Doctor grinned back at her. "What do you know, sometimes you get lucky twice."


	16. End

**A/N: Oookay ridiculously long wait over! (It's a Christmas miracle... XD) Here's the final chapter. Let's hope I can remember everything that I planned to put in here. Oops...**

**I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone for reading! It's been a very, very long time writing this, but I hope everyone enjoyed the ride while it lasted.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Every individual onboard the TARDIS, human and non-human alike––with the possible exception of the Doctor––tensed when they felt the time-space ship touch down once again, a long _bong_ing noise indicating the end of their trip.

Rose spoke for all the rest of them when she tentatively asked, "So...did we actually end up in the right place this time?"

The Doctor checked over the controls carefully before answering.

"Well...it's a bit difficult to tell in this universe. But she _appears_ to be telling me that we're more or less back where we started, so...!" He flipped a switch dramatically, then turned to Rose with a roguish wink. "I'll just double-check, shall I?"

Skipping to the girl as though he had already completely forgotten what had happened in the last ten minutes, the Doctor threw open the door.

Only a second later, there was a triumphant shout.

"See? _Told_ you so! Brilliant old TARDIS, never makes the same mistake twice."

Encouraged by this response, the others hurried to the TARDIS door to see that the Doctor had every reason to be proud of his landing: his vehicle was neatly parked at the end of the Cullens' driveway, looking absurdly as though it belonged there.

"Shall we?" the Doctor said, and they filed out after him.

As they approached the house, Esme hurried out, Carlisle following at a more sedate pace behind her. Rose, glancing out, thought she saw the flash of a pale face and long blonde at the window, and suspected Rosalie of not wanting to betray even the most casual of interests in what they were doing.

Esme, meanwhile, had gone straight up to her children and started talking at a mile a minute. "Well? How did it go? Is everyone safe? Did anything happen? Don't leave us in suspense, now!"

"Not much happened," Jasper said quietly, as Alice added in a quick "everyone's safe" and Edward muttered something about explaining once they were inside.

The next thing they all knew they were being ushered into the house to sit at the dining room table, and Esme was carefully preparing tea for the humans (and Time Lord) at the table.

The Doctor and the others (though, admittedly, mostly the Doctor) spent most of the next two hours regaling them with their tale, and then Edward sat down in a corner with the other vampires to hash out the technical details while Bella, Rose, and the Doctor made a valiant effort to finish off all the refreshments that Esme had insisted on making for them.

"So, Bella," Rose tried (and failed) to say primly around a mouthful of scone (which, while not British and not from her universe and not even prepared by a human, was still quite tasty), "how did you enjoy having an adventure?"

Bella flushed. "You make it sound as though I've never had an adventure before," she mumbled.

Rose swallowed her scone and grinned. "Not like that one, I bet," she said. "Go on, admit it. Looking for trouble isn't something your vampire beau over there approves of for you."

"Doesn't mean I haven't done it," Bella protested quietly, but at a quick but noticeable glance from Edward across the room, she subsided. "Probably nothing _quite_ like this, though. It's not really the Cullens' style to go looking for trouble the way you two seem to."

Rose shrugged. "It's what makes life fun," she said in a roguish half-whisper. "And anyway, we were able to help, weren't we? That's what counts in the end, right, Doctor?"

The Doctor, who had been enjoying watching them and happened to have his mouth full of tea and scone at the moment Rose indicated him, nodded awkwardly. "'Course," he said around the scone. "Always here to help, that's us." He gave Bella a smug little smile, and she blushed.

"Doctor," Edward said at the exact same moment, "could you come over here for a second? I'd like you to try to explain everything that happened to Carlisle and the others."

The Doctor shrugged his assent and walked across the room to the others, sitting down shoulder to shoulder with the vampire coven without a care in the world.

Rose watched him fondly. "Just look at 'im go," she said, taking another bite of scone. "I swear, I could sit back and watch him talk people's ears off all day, if it weren't so much more fun running away from things."

"I'm not exactly sure that's what I'd call 'fun,'" Bella pointed out.

Rose shrugged. "To each her own," she said.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Doctor, for his part, was trying to explain to a coven of vampires what exactly he'd done to try to reconstruct the genetic blueprint of their species. He was fairly sure that Edward understood all the details that the Doctor himself did, being inside his head and all, and he thought that Carlisle understood almost as much. As for the others...well, you couldn't teach Time Lord science to anyone overnight, even if that someone was hyperintelligent and had an excellent––or indeed eidetic––memory. (Though admittedly he wouldn't have been surprised if Edward decided to try to teach at least Carlisle at some point. He wished the vampire luck; he'd never done too terribly well in the Academy, and knew there were gaps in both his understanding and his memory.)

Eventually, though, Emmett and Rosalie (and possibly Esme, Jasper, and Alice, even though the latter two had _been_ there and the former was too polite to ever say so) got bored with the technical details and asked the Doctor for a basic understanding of what it is he _thought_ he'd done to the monster buried beneath the city of Volterra.

"Actually..." The Doctor put one hand to the back of his head, slightly apologetic. "I can't be sure we've made all that much of a difference, to be perfectly honest. And if there is one, it'll probably only manifest over a rather long period of time."

"So what sort of differences are we talking about?" Rosalie asked, suspicious and impatient.

"Well...a possible drop in bloodlust, for one," the Doctor. "I don't know if it'll _work_, but we were trying to make 'newborns,' as you call them, more tractable and less dangerous in the early stages of their development. Hopefully," he said, throwing Bella a knowing glance, "it might help make _some people's_ lives easier in the future.

"Though, Edward..." He turned to the vampire, who regarded him curiously. "I'm sure you've taken this from my mind already, but if you can ever get the Volturi to make their peace with you, I want you to try continuing where we left off. Only if possible, of course."

"Of course," Edward said simply, looking the Doctor in the eye with an even, piercing stare. "I think I've gotten about everything out of your head that I might hypothetically need."

"Good to hear!" The Doctor said, grinning like a maniac and a second later reaching deep into a coat pocket. He pulled out a pocket watch, examined whatever was inside (it didn't look like a traditional timing device of any Earth sort), snapped it shut again, and returned it to his pocket. "Well, that was interesting."

Edward gave the Doctor a look that made Rose suspect that that particular set of actions had had no bearing on the current happenings around him whatsoever.

"Anyway," the Doctor said, carefully avoiding Edward's gaze, "I believe that Rose and I should be going soon."

Esme frowned. "Ah, really? You're welcome to stay as long as you like."

Despite the glower on Rosalie's face and the generally awkward expression on Emmett's, it seemed that Esme really did mean the invitation sincerely, and that if they were to agree to stay, the rest of the family would go along with Esme's wishes...but that didn't make it any less of a good time to go.

In fact, if anything, it was a sign that it was a good idea to leave sooner rather than later.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose reflected as they left amid a cluster of vampires and a lone human, was very good at fun––if not smooth––goodbyes.

It had, she suspected, something to do with the way that he never stopped _talking_ as he departed. He'd jump from topic to topic like a child jumping from stone to stone in a river. He could give a long string of reminders to the people he was leaving behind without sounding like he was nagging, or jump forward to places he wanted to go in the future with innocent exuberance––and somehow, at last 90% of the time, managed to avoid sounding rude.

Rose, for her part, did what she usually did: followed in his footsteps and grinned, allowing to show on her face the joy that she always felt, joy about both waht she'd done and what she was leaving to do. She never wanted to stop traveling with the Doctor. No overprotective, romantic vampires for her; no permanent problems or permanent locations or permanent _anything_ but continual change, shift, movement. Sometimes she dreamed of what would happen if she ever burnt out, but usually she just dreamed of where she and the Doctor might go tomorrow, or revisited fond memories of past adventures.

That was, when she had the energy to dream at all. Usually, she didn't: reality was too distracting.

She hoped that Bella would be happy with her future. It took a very determined person to live with those who were not human, and in that way, she could not help but feel a certain amount of kinship with the human girl surrounded by a coven of vampires.

Then again, she could never be a Time Lord, she reflected as she climbed into the TARDIS after the Doctor. And someday, Bella might end up joining the coven that currently protected her...

She shook her head quietly to herself, beginning to push her thoughts of Bella back from the present into the back of her mind, along with countless other questions that would always go unanswered, dilemmas that would go forever unresolved. It was part of the price that came with living with the Doctor, but while she doubted that she would ever hold it cheaply, there was also very little chance that the price would ever become one that she would be reluctant to pay.

And even as she thought of this, she noted absently that there was still a grin on her face.

"Goodbye!" she called over her shoulder, waving a cheerful hand, and watched seven subtly shiny hands and one pale, dull human one rise in response.

Behind her, the Doctor was off on another spiel, checking the TARDIS over, discussing where they'd go next.

"So I'm thinking _not_ Barcelona at the moment, call me superstitious but I'm almost tempted at this point to start to take a hint. There's all sort of other places to go, though, but first, how's the TARDIS? All systems functioning normally? Or at least not blowing up, not blowing up is always a good start. Display's almost working, don't worry, soon as we're back in our proper universe everything should be back to normal..."

Rose shut the TARDIS door behind her as the familiar _whooshing_ started up, echoes of it bouncing off the trees in the damp air.

Meanwhile, in the land of vampires, the Cullens and Bella watched the Doctor go, and a strange shadow passed over Alice's face as, from within the rapidly vanishing TARDIS, the Doctor's last audible words rang out:

"_Molto bene!"_

_-FIN-_

* * *

**A/N: I feel like my grasp of the style for these characters has slipped during my long hiatus, but then again...I've also matured by like four years since starting this fic, so I suppose there's the possibility that that's made up for it? **

**(By the way, did anyone notice the subtle out I planted as to why Bella's first days as a vampire went so smoothly? Anyone? No? ...I love fiddling quietly around with continuity.)**

**Anyway.**

**Thanks to all of you for reading! I doubt I'll be doing any more fic in either of these fandoms for a while, if ever, to be perfectly honest, but I hope you enjoyed this one while it lasted. Thanks for spending your time with me. ;)**

–**Eilonwyn**


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